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International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

International Viewpoint, the monthly English-language magazine of the Fourth International, is a window to radical alternatives world-wide, carrying reports, analysis and debates from all corners of the globe. Correspondents in over 50 countries report on popular struggles, and the debates that are shaping the left of tomorrow.

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Some consider that if you are involved in a movement against a tax (supposed, in theory at least, to redistribute wealth) rather than for higher wages, say (in the broad sense, including social security), you are part of a right-wing movement. This is not so: many revolutionary movements started because the burden of unfair taxes had become unbearable for a majority of the people.

In the aftermath of the Marikana massacre and the mass strike of mineworkers, a great opportunity emerged for regenerating progressive and left politics. Thousands of rank and file mineworkers transformed the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) into a militant, independent, mass mineworkers union. The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, (Numsa) called a special Congress to regroup the labour movement, independent of the ANC Alliance, and set in motion a broad socialist movement. After being expelled from the ANC, Julius Malema and Floyd Shivambu formed the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), as a militant movement to lead the charge for the radical redistribution of wealth. And just on the heels of these developments emerged the Fees Must Fall movement, acting as a further catalyst and detonator of radical change.

Julia Salazar, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and candidate in the Democratic Party primary election for the New York State Senate, won her race by a decisive vote of 58.5 to 41.5 percent. Since there is no Republican opponent in the general election, she is virtually assured of taking a seat in the Senate. Her victory represents another demonstration that DSA’s electoral strategy of running or endorsing candidates in the Democratic Party can be successful in winning primary and some general elections. And that’s no small accomplishment.

Since the beginning of December, France has been in a political crisis from which Macron hoped to escape with the statement he made Monday evening 10 December. The yellow jackets’ movement has been growing since mid-November. Saturday 1 December was a turning point, bringing about a change in the social crisis.

The Left Bloc was formed about twenty years ago in Portugal, by the fusion of forces from the anti-capitalist left and the social movement. Today, together with the Communist Party, it is the main formation of the combative left in the country. Based on the Bloc’s experience, Francisco Louçã gives an overview of the still problematic relationship between parliamentary opposition work and investment in social movements and mobilizations.

The COP21 negotiators at the Paris 2015 convention enjoyed a rare moment of success. Unlike in Copenhagen six years before, the climate summit produced an agreement — and an ambitious one at that. The attending governments committed to keeping the temperature rise “well below 2° C” and “continuing efforts” not to exceed 1.5° C of warming. No one had imagined such a breakthrough. [1]

At the People’s Summit for a Global Pact of Solidarity with Migrants and Refugees, held in Marrakech December 8th and 9th of 2018, hosted by La Via Campesina and its member organisations of the Middle East and North Africa (MeNa) Process, the global peasant movement and its allies have issued a scathing critique of the Global Compact on Migration and rejected it.

WE WEREN’T expecting much, as the ministers had been peppering the media for two days...and we were indeed not disappointed. However, Macron’s speech tonight revealed the nature of his policy, even as it falters against the movement of “yellow vests.”

Faced with the mobilisation of the yellow jackets, the government began to retreat, announcing the abolition, for the year 2019, of the increase in fuel taxes. The government, which was showing its "inflexibility" just a few days ago, is panicking and trying to put out the fire it started itself.

The call for donations we launched has been a success. Several thousand euros have been donated. In addition, we have received a commitment to donate a considerable amount of labour to finish the translation whch is now moving ahead rapidly. With these donations, the IIRE and Resistance Books can now plan the publication of the book in mid-2019.